


Connected

by martianwahtney



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Big Mister Liar Pants Harley Keener, Family Secrets, Gen, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Maya Hansen as Harley's Mom, Sassy Harley Keener, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 15:11:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18501541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianwahtney/pseuds/martianwahtney
Summary: The last thing Harley Keener needs when he's home alone is someone breaking into his garage, even if it is Iron Man. A few white lies, a broken water tower, and number of panic attacks later, Harley's life flips upside down.





	Connected

**Author's Note:**

> square: t1- picture of Tony & Iron Man sitting on Harley's couch

The clattering sound coming from the garage was just about the last thing that Harley wanted to deal with when he was home alone. But he also really didn’t need anyone messing up the garage or taking anything. So he grabbed his modified potato gun and headed out for the garage where he found a man poking around in Harley’s things.  
  
“Freeze!”  
  
Shockingly the man froze for a second before turning to Harley.  
  
“Don't move,” he warned.  
  
“You got me. Nice potato gun,” the man said, not looking very troubled. He had a bright blue circle in the middle of his chest. Kind of reminded Harley of the one Iron Man had.  
  
“Barrel's a little long, between that and the wide gauge it's gonna diminish your FPS,” he commented.  
  
Harley aimed for the light near the man’s head and fired, the potato shattering the bulb.  
  
“And now you're out of ammo,”  
  
_Damn._  
  
“What's that thing on your chest?” he asked.  
  
“It's an electromagnet. You should know, you got a box of them right here,” the man pointed out.  
  
“What does it power?”  
  
The man stared at him for a moment before turning to the side to reveal Iron Man. The potato gun fell from Harley’s grasp.  
  
“Oh, my God. That… that's… is that Iron Man?” Harley asked, moving closer to the suit.  
  
“Technically, I am,” Tony god damn Stark replied.  
  
“Technically, you're dead,” Harley pointed out. Because what else was he going to say to the presumed dead superhero in his garage?  
  
“Valid point,”  
  
“What happened to him?” Harley asked.  
  
“Life. I built him, I can take care of him. I’ll fix him,”  
  
“Like a mechanic?” Harley asked.  
  
“Yea,”  
  
Harley looked at the armor again, a smile growing on his face.  
  
“If I was building Iron Man and War Machine-”  
  
“It’s Iron Patriot-”  
  
“That’s way cooler,” Harley said.  
  
“No it’s not,” Stark said, sounding borderline offended that Harley thought Iron Patriot was cooler than War Machine.  
  
“Anyways, I would have added in, um… the retro-”  
  
“Retro-reflective panels?” Stark asked.  
  
“To make him stealth mode,”  
  
“You want a stealth mode?”  
  
Harley nodded.  
  
“Cool right?”  
  
“That's actually a good idea, maybe I'll build one,” Stark said. Harley grinned, fiddling with the finger of the armor.  
  
“Not a good idea,” Stark warned as the finger snapped off.  
  
“Oops,”  
  
What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain. He's been injured. Leave him alone,”  
  
“Sorry,” Harley murmured.  
  
“Are you?” Stark shot back. Harley had to bite back his smile.  
  
“Don't worry about it, I'll fix it,” Stark assured him.  
  
“So, uh, who's home?”  
  
“Well, my mom already left for the diner and Dad went to 7-11 to get scratchers. I guess he won, because that was six years ago,” Harley said with what he hoped was a carefree shrug.  
  
“Hmm,”  
  
Harley was just about to ask what ‘hmm’ meant when Stark started talking again.  
  
“Which happens. Dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it,”  
  
Harley almost choked on air.  
  
“Here's what I need. A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring and a tuna fish sandwich,” Stark said before Harley really got a chance to react to the pussy thing.  
  
“What's in it for me?” he shot back.  
  
Stark almost seemed to smile.  
  
“Salvation. What's his name?” Stark asked.  
  
“Who?” Harley asked.  
  
“The kid that bullies you at school. What's his name?”  
  
“How'd you know that?” Harley asked.  
  
Stark pulled out a small metal device.  
  
“I got just the thing. This is a pinata for a cricket- I'm kidding- This is a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top, it discourages bullying. Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass,” he said and offered it out to Harley.  
  
“Deal?”  
  
“Deal,” Harley said, accepting the anti-bullying weapon.  
  
“What's your name?” Stark asked.  
  
“Harley. And you're…”  
  
“The mechanic. Tony,” S- Tony said. Harley was definitely not going to freak out over the fact that he practically got permission to call Iron Man by his first name.  
  
“You know what keeps going through my head?” Tony asked.  
  
“‘Where's my sandwich?’”  
  
_Dick._  
  
Harley first got Tony the pneumatic actuator, the spring, the laptop, and a map. Then he set to work of finding a cellphone, a digital watch, and apparently, making him a sandwich.  
  
The cellphone was shockingly easy to find, his mom kept all her old ones in a drawer inside her office, he hoped Tony could find some use for it. The digital watch, however, was a no go so Harley had to settle for the Dora watch he’d gotten in his Happy Meal earlier that day.  
  
He’d have to lie to Iron Man- again. He could say the watch belonged to his sister. He wondered if Tony knew he was lying and was just humoring him.  
  
It felt wrong lying to Iron Man. Even a small lie. His mom was at work, but she didn’t work at the diner. The woman who was watching him, however, did work at the diner and she worked the night shift. Harley didn’t think Iron Man would mind the small white lie. He glanced over at the Dora watch and winced.  
  
Maybe he shouldn’t have lied about having a sister either.  
  
He brought the sandwich, the phone, and the watch back to Tony and watched the man get to work. Harley really didn’t know what he was doing but it was fascinating watching Tony Stark work.  
  
“Alright. You’re going to show me around,” Tony said suddenly.  
  
“Ok,” Harley said slowly.  
  
Besides, what harm could come from showing Tony Stark around town?

  
  


Three hours later Harley Keener had his answer as he sat next to a wheezing Tony Stark, both of them drenched to the bone.  
  
“You’re unbelievable,” he said.  
  
Tony just grinned. Harley helped Tony to his feet and Tony stumbled over to the man who had just been holding Harley hostage and swiped his car keys.  
  
“Let’s go,”  
  
Harley followed Tony away from the fallen water tower and back to the middle of town.  
  
“You're welcome,” he said after a long stretch of silence.  
  
“For what? Did I miss something?” Tony asked.  
  
“Me, saving your life,” Harley said as if it were obvious, which really it was.  
  
“Yeah. A, I saved you first. B, thanks. Sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz. All right? Just play it cool, otherwise you come off grandiose,” Tony said.  
  
Harley rolled his eyes.  
  
“Unlike you?” Harley shot back.  
  
Now it was Tony’s turn to roll his eyes.  
  
“Admit it, you need me, we're connected,” Harley said as Tony got into the car.  
  
“What I need is for you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit, and stay connected to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up. Ok?” Tony asked, looking at Harley out of the window.  
  
“Can you feel that? We're done here,”  
  
Harley frowned.  
  
“Move out of the way, or I'm gonna run you over. Bye, kid,” for a moment it seemed like Tony would make good of his promise but he stopped and turned back to Harley.  
  
“I'm sorry, kid. You did good,” Tony told him.  
  
“So, now you're just gonna leave me here, like my dad?” Harley asked.  
  
“Yeah- wait, you're guilt tripping me, aren't you?” Tony asked.  
  
Harley hugged his jacket closer to himself.  
  
“I'm cold” he whined.  
  
“I can tell, you know how I can tell?” Tony asked, faux pout forming on his lips.  
  
“Because we’re connected,” Tony mocked before stepping on the gas pedal.  
  
“Worth a shot,” he muttered to himself.  
  
Harley watched him drive away and was left with only one thought. He lied to Iron Man- not once but twice- and had gotten away with it.  
  
He went back to his garage and started to do what Tony asked of him, which included charging the Iron Man armor and helping the AI- JARVIS- get back on his metaphorical feet. Once he got JARVIS working things seemed to go a lot faster, JARVIS was having trouble speaking, he could go for a stretch but ended up saying the wrong thing at the tail end of a sentence. He was nice and patient and helped Harley a lot.  
  
He ate the candy Tony told him to eat and focused on the laptop in front of him, trying to understand what the hell he was seeing.  
  
He wasn’t sure how long he sat like that before the phone rang.  
  
“Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report,” Tony said before Harley could say ‘hello’.  
  
“Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?” Harley asked.  
  
“How much have you had?”  
  
“Two or three bowls,” Harley admitted.  
  
“Can you still see straight?” Tony asked.  
  
“Sort of,”  
  
“That means you're fine,”  
  
Harley grinned.  
  
“Give me JARVIS,”  
  
Harley put the call on speaker so JARVIS would be able to hear and reply properly.  
  
“JARVIS, how are we?” Tony asked.  
  
“ _It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry. And, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal_ ,” JARVIS said, proper and British and one of Harley’s new favorite things.  
  
“What are we talking? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?” Tony asked.  
  
“ _Actually, sir, it's in Miami_ ,”  
  
“Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is,” Tony instructed.  
  
Harley glanced at the screen and frowned.  
  
“Um, it does say Miami, Florida,” Harley reported.  
  
“Okay, first things first, I need the armour. Where are we at with it?” Tony said, stress creeping into his voice.  
  
Harley glanced at the computer again, another frown taking over his face.  
  
“Uh, it's not charging,”  
  
On the other end of the line he heard the screech of tires and the sound of Tony’s frantic breaths.  
  
Oh god.  
  
“ _Actually sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalising the Mark 42_ ,” JARVIS said.  
  
“What’s questionable about electricity? All right? It’s my suit, and I can’t- I’m not gonna- I don’t wanna-”  
  
“Oh god not again,”  
  
Harley heard the car door open.  
  
“Tony?” he asked.  
  
He only heard faint gasping.  
  
“Are you having another attack? I didn’t even mention New York!” Harley winced as the words left his mouth.  
  
“Right, and then you just said it by name while denying having said it!” Tony shot back, his voice a little hard to hear. He must be outside the car.  
  
“Ok… um… uh-”  
  
“God, what am I gonna do?” Tony murmured.  
  
“Just breathe. Really, just breathe,” Harley advised, hoping to calm him down.  
  
“You’re a mechanic, right?” he asked.  
  
“Right,” Tony confirmed.  
  
“You said so,”  
  
“Yea, I did,”  
  
“Why don’t you just build something?” Harley asked.  
  
There was a moment of silence, Harley couldn’t hear Tony gasping for air anymore which hopefully meant he was calming down- or dead.  
  
“Ok,” Tony said after a few moments, reaffirming that he was indeed alive and much calmer than before.  
  
“Thanks, kid,” and then the line went dead.  
  
Harley continued to work with JARVIS and eat candy- at least until he crashed. He only woke when he heard a car door slam. Miss Jamie was back and she couldn’t see Iron Man.  
  
“Good luck J!”  
  
Harley bolted out of the garage and closed the door just as Miss Jamie was getting out of her car.  
  
“You’re up early!” she commented.  
  
Harley grinned and shrugged.  
  
“Well come on inside. I brought breakfast home,”  
  
He followed her inside the house. He liked Miss Jamie, she was always nice to him and always brought back food from the diner. He ended up spending most of the day in his room, taking naps and briefly working on the homework he’d been assigned over winter break.  
  
A loud clang broke through his concentration. Harley peeked out of his window and saw the garage doors shaking.  
  
“Oh shit!”  
  
An acidic solution and one broken lock later, the Iron Man armor was tearing through the sky. He hoped it got to Tony fast enough.  
  
It was two days later when cops showed up at Harley’s house to tell him that his mom, Maya Hansen, had died in a work accident. That was all they told him.  
  
Miss Jamie stayed with him. She planned the funeral because Harley was 13 years old and had no idea how to even start. Someone came by to read Maya’s will and to tell Harley that he would receive his inheritance when he turned 18. He didn’t really care about that. His mom was dead and he couldn’t remember the last thing he said to her. Was it ‘goodbye’? Was it ‘I love you’? When was the last time he’d said that to her?  
  
The caseworkers all told him they were trying to get in touch with his dad. Harley didn’t bother telling them that Greg Keener wasn’t his real father. He’d known for years. For one thing no one in his moms family or Greg’s family had blonde hair and blue eyes, and for another thing Harley knew what his blood type was and what his mom and Greg’s were. They didn’t match up. He’d never brought it up to his mom, he didn’t think it mattered all that much. Greg left them.

  
  


Harley stepped into his house and froze. There was a man in a black suit, and eyepatch over his eye.  
  
“Oh! Harley you’re home. This is your new case worker,”  
  
While Harley may not have been able to recognize Tony Stark right off the bat he sure as hell recognized Director Fury of SHIELD.  
  
“Thank you ma’am would you mind if I spoke with him alone?” Fury asked.  
  
“That alright with you Harl?”  
  
Harley nodded mutely, still waiting for his brain to kick start back up. Just like that he was left alone with Director Fury.  
  
“Holy shit you’re Nick Fury,” Harley whispered.  
  
“And you’re Harley Keener,”  
  
“What exactly are you doing in my house?” Harley asked.  
  
“I understand Tony Stark has recently paid you a visit,”  
  
“Yes,”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Why are you in my house?” Harley shot back.  
  
“We’ve been following your case closely, keeping you at home while CPS try to track down your father,”  
  
“Greg isn’t my father,” Harley said instantly.  
  
“I know,” Fury replied.  
  
From out of his black leather trench coat he pulled a file and dropped it on the coffee table.  
  
“But he is,” Fury said.  
  
Harley slowly reached for the file and struggled to open it.  
  
“Nothing would bring me greater joy than to bring you to him, but I’ll respect your decision,” Fury was saying.  
  
Harley glanced at the picture of his biological father, a hysterical laugh threatened to bubble out of him.  
  
“You have to be shitting me,” he said as he stared down at a one Anthony Edward Stark.

**Author's Note:**

> [big liar baby Harley Keener lies to Tony Stark](http://www.anthonystarhk.tumblr.com/)


End file.
